Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 12, Number 5, 1 May 1995 — Foundation of the culture: uhau humu pōhaku [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Foundation of the culture: uhau humu pōhaku

"The tradition of dry stone wall huilding dates haek to ancient Hawai'i. The volcanic islands of Hawai'i, providing an abundant supply and variety ofbasalt rocks, early Hawaiian masons displayed amazing skill in stacking stones to produce house platjorms, fishpond walls, animal pens and stone walls. A dry stone wall is one built entirely without the use of mortar. Its strength and durability rely on the skillful placing of stones so that eaeh one is locked securely in plaee. Many massive heiau īemple platforms such as Pi'ilanihale in Hāna, Maui, whose outer walls reach 40 feet in height, still stand as silent testimony to the talents of

those early Hawaiian engineers." Nathan Nāpoka State Historic Preservation Division "Following the arrival of Western culture to these islands, traditional wall-building began to decline. Today, only a handful of knowledgeable wall builders live on eaeh island, and many of them are over 70 years old," says Nathan Napokā, State Historic Preservation Division (SHPD) history and culture branch chief at the Department of Land and Natural Resources. To preserve their knowledge, and transmit the experience and practice of traditional stone wall building to future generations, a

hands-on conference on traditional Hawaiian dry stone wall building, or uhau humu pōhaku, was held in late March at Hulopo'e, Lāna'i. The conference was sponsored and funded by the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, in conjunction with the Department of Land and Natural Resources and State Foundation on Culture and the Arts Folk Arts program. The weekend conference began for the 14 master and apprentice masons with a tour of traditional stone structures on Lāna'i at the ancient Kaunolū village (now a national historic landmark). Meeting that evening, they focused on the techniques of building a stone foundation for a hālau wa'a, or eanoe shed. The

next day, video recordings were made as the men talked about and demonstrated their techniques while building and completing walls for a eanoe shed at Hulopo'e Bay. The shed will be used by the Lāna'i Canoe Club. In oral history interviews eonducted by the State Foundation on Culture and the Arts, the men also shared their backgrounds and how they learned this traditional skill. They expressed a strong spirit of lōkahi with the spirit of the land and the stones they worked with. The older men were especially interested in passing on to their mo'opuna the values they considered important, of taking pride in their hard work and in a well built and esthetically pleasing wall. OHA culture officer Plkake Pelekai said that the project provided OHA an opportunity to identify practitioners of a unique Hawaiian skill and to assist in perpetuating this aspect of the eulture. She said that, "There is a

growing need to identify individuals who are skilled in dry rock wall masonry as practiced by Hawaiians, given the interest in restoration and preservation of culturally historic and significant sites. We hope they will start supporting eaeh other as island teams who ean begin to eall on eaeh other." The State Historic Preservation Division of DLNR has been involved in several historic restoration and preservation projects where ancient Hawaiian walls and structures have been restored, such as the hula platform at Hā'ena, Kaua'i. Nathan Napokā of SHPD acknowledged that there is a debate about whether ancient structures should be restored. However, he noted that to many native Hawaiians, preservation of the Hawaiian eulture as a living culture means restoring traditional structures for use by Hawaiians. by Deborah L. Ward

"Ua ho'onoho niho 'ia ... ho'oku'u ka hana" When the stones are properly stacked, the work is . āone.

Nā po'e uhau humu pohaku: HAWAl'l

Autry Bell

Sam Bell s

Billy Fields

Calvert Mahuna

Arthur Keka

KAUA'I

Chai Tin

Kaipo Akana

Jeff Chandler

MOLOKA'I

WiUiam Kaholoa'a

Eugene Spencer

...... I MAUI 1

Thomas Emmsley, Jr

Thomas Emmsiey III

JoeTolentino

Les Kuloioio

#/§ i Photos by Lynn Martin, SFCA . i